In his descriptions of places far and near, many outside of the average American's purview, ranging from a besieged city in Bosnia, to a hidden path in a Taiwanese park, to Tolstoy's country house in Russia, to a castle in Slovakia, to a blossoming dogwood at daybreak in Seattle, the reader's understanding of the world will flourish as well.

Dogwood blossoms, intermingled with redbud sprays, have long characterized the hillsides and woodlands of central Mississippi come spring, but no dogwood yet seen in the country, some think, can compare with the aging wonder of a specimen that still blooms on an old residential street near downtown Magee.

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